Surprising with Villa's continuing search for a manager... Houllier may not have been a fan favourite there but he did cull the large squad and a significant wage bill (82% of turnover?) as was his remit.

3 managers have now turned it down after talks with the club, they may be losing Young and Downing soon - but there's some quality prospects coming through, decent players already there, and should be money in the kitty for the new man.